Randy Melton, a hunting and fishing guide with Avalanche Outfitters highlights the Thompson Divide's importance to sportsmen and to his business.

"As a sportsman you've got an even deeper connection to the land. (You feel that) when you're up in the Thompson Divide in the fall when the elk are bugling and you're watching the sun come up with the birds and the little critters running around waking up and you're just sitting there listening, watching and smelling the elk,” Melton says. “You know that smell when you go through the dark timber, you're seeing all the rubs and scrapes, it's all dark and shadowy, the light is going through the dark timber, and you hear that elk bugle for the first time that morning. Your heart starts racing a hundred miles an hour…"